The reading
On 23 October 2026, buying USDT with R5,000 cost about R17.80 per USDT on OKX, R17.83 on Bybit and R17.87 on Binance. Selling R5,000 worth paid about R16.59 per USDT on Binance, R16.48 on Bybit and R16.42 on OKX.
What it cost to buy 1 USDT
| Exchange | R500 order | R5,000 order | R50,000 order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | R17.77best advert R16.95 | R17.87best advert R16.95 | R17.54best advert R17.51 |
| OKX | R17.80best advert R17.59 | R17.80best advert R17.59 | R19.50best advert R19.50 |
| Bybit | no reading | R17.83best advert R17.50 | R22.00best advert R22.00 |
Lower is better when you buy. The shaded cell is the lowest typical price for that order size.
What you got for selling 1 USDT
| Exchange | R500 order | R5,000 order | R50,000 order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | R16.24best advert R16.60 | R16.59best advert R16.70 | R16.52best advert R16.62 |
| OKX | R16.19best advert R16.47 | R16.42best advert R16.62 | R16.42best advert R17.00 |
| Bybit | R16.15best advert R16.40 | R16.48best advert R16.70 | R16.47best advert R16.70 |
Higher is better when you sell. The shaded cell is the highest typical price for that order size.
How to read the two numbers. The large figure is the typical price: the middle of the 10 best prices among adverts that accept that order size, from advertisers showing at least 10 completed orders and a 90% completion rate. "Best advert" is the single best of those. We use the typical price for comparisons because one unusually good advert is often small, gone in minutes, or open only to some users.
MEXC is not in these tables. Its rand P2P list held no adverts we could buy from when we added this market on 22 October 2026. Our reading of the MEXC rand P2P list, 22 October 2026.
Work out your own amount
Enter an amount to see what each exchange's typical price gives.
An estimate from the reading above, using the order size closest to your amount.
What the exchanges say about fees. Binance announced in March 2024 a flat taker fee of 0.05 USDT per order on USDT pairs in most fiat markets, and we have not confirmed it is unchanged (Binance). OKX says it charges zero fee on P2P trading (OKX). Bybit lists a 0% fee for the person taking an advert, and charges advertisers in a few currencies (Bybit). Where no fee is charged the price you accept is the cost of the trade, though your bank or wallet may charge for the transfer.
Featured and promoted adverts against the ordinary list
Some adverts are pinned above the ordinary list (labelled "Promoted Ad" on Binance, shown in a highlighted box on OKX, labelled "Featured" on Bybit). At this reading every pinned advert we saw was a worse price than the ordinary adverts underneath.
| Exchange | You are | Pinned price | Typical price | Difference on 100 USDT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance selling | selling | R15.79 | R16.59 | R80 worse (4.8%) |
| OKX selling | selling | R15.85 | R16.42 | R57 worse (3.5%) |
| Bybit selling | selling | R16.45 | R16.48 | R3 worse (0.2%) |
| Bybit buying | buying | R23.00 | R17.83 | R517 worse (29.0%) |
We record what the lists show. We do not know how an advert comes to be pinned, so we draw no conclusion about why. The practical point is simple: scroll past the pinned adverts and compare before you pick.
The gap between buying and selling
If you buy USDT and later sell it back on the same exchange, this gap is what the round trip gives up before any price change. For a R5,000 order:
| Exchange | Typical buy | Typical sell | Gap per USDT | As a share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | R17.87 | R16.59 | R1.28 | 7.72% |
| Bybit | R17.83 | R16.48 | R1.35 | 8.19% |
| OKX | R17.80 | R16.42 | R1.38 | 8.40% |
The South Africa P2P market at a glance
Counted from the full advert lists at the same reading. "Buy from" means adverts selling USDT to you; "sell to" means adverts buying it from you.
| Exchange | Adverts to buy from | Adverts to sell to | Smallest order | Take R500 or less | Usual time to pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Binance | 41 | 137 | R150 | 59% | 15 min |
| OKX | 38 | 150 | R17 | 55% | 15 min |
| Bybit | 11 | 108 | R100 | 82% | 15 min |
"Take R500 or less" is the share of adverts you can buy from whose minimum order is at or under that amount. "Usual time to pay" is the payment window most of those adverts set. Bybit is counted with the filter its page applies by default (verified advertisers); without it there were 125 to buy from and 185 to sell to.
Payment methods advertisers accept
- Binance. When you buy: Bank transfer 56%, Absa Bank 24%, Nedbank 24%, FNB-ewallet 22%. When you sell: Bank transfer 90%, FNB Bank 51%, Absa Bank 50%, Capitec Bank 47%.
- OKX. When you buy: Bank transfer 76%, FNB-ewallet 39%, Revolut 3%, Skrill 3%. When you sell: Bank transfer 99%, FNB-ewallet 35%, Chipper Cash 13%, Moov Money 11%.
- Bybit. When you buy: Bank transfer 64%, FNB-ewallet 27%, Cash Deposit to Bank 9%. When you sell: Bank transfer 98%, FNB-ewallet 5%, Wise 3%, Skrill 2%.
Share of adverts on each list that accept the method. An advert can accept several, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Daily readings
| Date | Binance | OKX | Bybit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | Sell | Buy | Sell | Buy | Sell | |
| 23 Oct | 17.87 | 16.59 | 17.80 | 16.42 | 17.83 | 16.48 |
| 22 Oct | 17.78 | 16.59 | 18.08 | 16.37 | 20.00 | 16.49 |
Typical price per USDT for a R5,000 order. Readings began on 22 Oct 2026; the chart appears once there are a few days to draw. The table keeps the last reading of each day. Download every reading as CSV (all three order sizes, best and typical price, featured prices).
Before you trade on P2P
- Set your amount first. The price changes with order size, as the tables show, so compare adverts that actually accept what you want to trade.
- Scroll past the pinned adverts. Compare them with the ordinary adverts below before you pick.
- Read the advertiser's numbers. Completed orders and completion rate are shown beside each advert. This page ignores advertisers under 10 orders or 90%.
- Keep the chat and the payment on the platform. Bybit's P2P page tells users never to move the conversation off the platform and not to use third-party or split payments (Bybit P2P).
- Know what protects you. MEXC describes its P2P as an escrow: the seller's crypto is locked and released only after payment is confirmed (MEXC Learn).
How this is read, and what it cannot tell you
Every day, usually twice, a script opens the public USDT advert list each exchange shows to anyone, for three order sizes on each side, and records the prices. The exact time is printed at the top of this page. For Bybit we read the list with the filter its own page applies by default, which shows verified advertisers only. Adverts open only to takers in another country are left out. No account is used and nothing is traded.
- It is one reading, not a live quote. P2P prices move through the day. Use the tables to see how the exchanges compare, then check the live list.
- Adverts carry conditions. An advertiser can require a minimum account age, a number of completed trades or a verification level. The public list does not tell us whether you meet them, and some of the best prices are open only to some users.
- These are advert prices, not completed trades. We do not measure how fast an advertiser pays or releases.
- We keep prices, limits and payment-method names only. Nothing about any advertiser is stored.
The readings are free to reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 with a link to this page. More on how we collect figures is in how we measure and check. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
The exchanges in this reading
Some broker links are referral links; we may earn a commission at no cost to you. It never changes our ranking.
Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. A P2P trade is a deal with another person: check the advert, the name on the account and the payment before you release or mark anything as paid. Education only, not financial advice.